Charles Richard-Hamelin, the winner of the silver medal and the Krystian Zimerman Prize for the best sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition 2015, stands out as one of the most promising pianists of his generation. He received numerous awards including the second prize at the Montreal International Music Competition and the third prize as well as the special award at the Seoul International Music Competition in South Korea.
He has performed with orchestras such as the Les Violons du Roy, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under conductors such as Jacek Kaspszyk, Kent Nagano, Vasily Petrenko and Carlo Rizzi. Furthermore he appeared in various prestigious festivals such as Chopin and his Europe Festival Warsaw, Festival de La Roque d’Anthéron, Lanaudière Festival in Canada and the Prague Spring Festival.
Engagements in the coming seasons will take him to Hannover, London´s Wigmore Hall, Lyon, Munich, Paris Philharmonie, Warsaw and to Japan. In addition he will record the first volume of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with Montreal Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Andrew Wan.
Originally from Lanaudière in Québec, Charles Richard-Hamelin studied with Boris Berman, Sara Laimon, André Laplante und Paul Surdulescu. He obtained a master’s degree from Yale School of Music in 2013 and also completed an Artist Diploma program at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in 2016. He currently works on a regular basis with pianist Jean Saulnier. His first solo CD featuring late works by Chopin was released by Analekta in September 2015, followed be the second album with works by Chopin, Beethoven and Enescu which was recorded live at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City in May 2016 and released in September 2016 by the same label. His latest CD includes works by Chopin, released by the Chopin Institute Warsaw also in 2016.
